Device for washing nasal cavities with an incorporated pump

ABSTRACT

The invention concerns a device for washing nasal cavities by a nebulized liquid, that comprises a main body ( 12 ), a tank for liquids ( 14 ) including at least a nebulization chamber ( 23 ), and means of collection and nebulization of the treatment liquid from said nebulization chamber and delivery of the nebulized liquid towards the nasal cavities with the help of a flow of air under pressure generated by a compressor group. The main body ( 12 ) has a cavity and the compressor group ( 18 ), a piloting electronic circuit ( 20 ) and an electric battery system ( 31 ) are all on board of a single support housed and retained in the cavity of said main body.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a United States National Phase application ofInternational Application PCT/IT2009/000143 and claims the benefit ofpriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Italian Patent ApplicationBS2008A000081 filed Apr. 15, 2008, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention concerns in general treatment liquid nebulizing devices,and refers in particular to a device for delivery a liquid for washingnasal cavities, also known as a nasal douche.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For the washing, that is the irrigation, of the nasal cavities, devicesbasically comprising a body defining a nebulizing chamber, a sprayernozzle, an injector, and a chamber to receive the catarrhal matter arealready well known.

In a previous patent IT 252109 by the same Applicant, a so-called nasaldouche was proposed which was able, through an original configuration,arrangement and combination of its components, to assist the loading ofthe washing liquid in the respective chamber, to facilitate thepossibility of dismounting the parts so as to be able to access andclean them without difficulty and make assembly easy to perform.

This device, however, like the others of the same type, to receive thenecessary flow of air in order to function, must be connected at leastpneumatically to an external system, be it a centralized circuit orequipment comprising a compressor with an electric circuit. Suchequipment, furthermore, besides being cumbersome and bulky to carry,must be connected to the electric system with consequent ties regardingthe usage position. In other words a nasal douche according to thetraditional embodiments cannot be used autonomously, but always inassociation and connected to external equipment.

Other devices for washing the nasal cavities representative of theactual state of the technique have been disclosed, for example, in thedocuments EP1 180 373, U.S. 2003/089367 and EP 1 106 195, where,however, the functional components of every devices are lodged in abody, but they are not integrated on a single support and they have nothermetic sealing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of this invention is to implement a device for washing thenasal cavities to make it really portable, straightforward and easy touse, and usable autonomously in any place without ties or externalconnections of any type and to make it easier to use and toclean/disinfect, being this aspect very important in the medical fieldto avoid potential infections induced from the devices to the patient.

Another object is to provide a device configured so that it is able tocontain all the functional components required for its use,advantageously with hermetic sealing where is in fact provided aprotection of the various components during the device washing anddisinfecting operations by liquid substances.

A further object is to provide a nasal washing device including also therechargeable feed batteries and also provided with a battery charger,the latter with the dual function of supporting the nasal irrigationdevice at least while it is being recharged and to contain theaccessories for the device.

Said objects and the implicit advantages deriving from them are reachedwith a nebulizing device for washing the nasal cavities having a mainbody, a tank of liquids (14) above the main body and possibly includingat least a nebulization chamber containing the washing liquid, and ameans for drawing and nebulizing the treatment liquid from thenebulization chamber and supplying the nebulized liquid towards thenasal cavities with the help of a flow of air under pressure generatedby a compressor group which is controlled by a piloting electroniccircuit powered by an electric battery system connectable to a rechargerunit. The main body has a cavity closed by a sealing base cap and thecompressor group, piloting electronic circuit and electric batterysystem are all on board of a single support housed and retained in thecavity of said main body.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses,reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter inwhich preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view in perspective, of the components of thenasal washing device according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view from one angle of the device in FIG. 1 whenassembled and inserted on a support base;

FIG. 3 is perspective view from another angle of the device in FIG. 1when assembled and inserted on a support base;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the device;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view according to arrows B-B in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view according to arrows C-C in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the nasal washing device according to aconstruction variation; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the device in FIG. 7 when assembled.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the versions represented in FIGS. 1-6, the nasal washing device 11comprises a main body 12, a base cap 13, a tank 14 for the treatmentliquid, a cover or separator 15 above said tank and an adapter 16 abovethe separator. All these components can for example be made of plasticmaterial and configured to mate by superimposition.

In this example, the main body 12 and the tank 14 are components madeseparately and superimposed and they are opportunely connected to eachother. In particular, the body 12 is hollow and delimits a cavity 12′,which is closed, at the bottom, by the base cap 13 and, at the top, by awall 12″ sloping conically downwards where it delimits a central opening12 a.

In the cavity 12′ of the main body 12 is housed a compressor group 18that includes a pump 19, powered by a respective electric motor 19′ anddesigned to generate a flow of compressed air, and an electric circuitboard 20 piloting the device. The pump 19 communicates, at the bottom,with an air intake passage 21 facing towards a possible intake valve 22mounted on the base cap 13 and, at the top, with an air delivery nozzle21′ that extends upwards through the central 12 a of the top conicalwall 12″ of the main body. To the base cap 13, in line, where provided,with the intake valve 22, a perforated cover 22′ can be appliedprotecting said valve, which also has the purpose of protecting theinside of the device against the penetration of liquids from theoutside, in particular when the device is washed.

The tank 14 is divided into two chambers, which are side by side: onenebulizer chamber 23 containing the liquid to be nebulized, and acollection chamber 24 for possible catarrhal substances and washingmatters returning from the nasal cavities. From the bottom of thenebulizer chamber 23, a conduit 25 extends upwards, which engages underpressure and by sealing with the air delivery nozzle 21′ of the pump.Around the conduit 25 a tubular cap 26 is mounted, which is openradially towards the nebulizer chamber 23, near its bottom, to draw upthe liquid it contains, while at the top it flows into a nebulizernozzle or pisper 27 which is above and in line with the delivery nozzleof the air 21′ from the pump.

Advantageously, the pump group 18 is connected to and electricalsupplied by the batteries 31 also housed in the cavity of the main body12, so as to allow, as predicted, use of the device without the need forelectric cables and/or restraints of any type. The batteries 31, even ifthe disposable type could be used, preferably is given to therechargeable type controlled by the piloting board 20 by means of aninduction electromagnetic recharge unit 31′ type that mates with ahollow portion of the base cap 13 and which is provided to connect up toan inductor—not shown—placed in a supporting element 32 acting as a restfor the device in an erect position, both during recharging and when itis not used.

For its use, the device is activated by a control switch 28 placed onone side of the main body that controls the feed of current to theelectronic piloting circuit and so as to be able deactivate/activate thepump. When it is activated, the pump generates a flow of air which, byre-ascending the conduit 25, suck, due to suction pressure, the washingliquid from the bottom of the chamber 23, forcing it through thenebulizer nozzle, or pisper, 27. A nebulized liquid is formed in thisway and is suitable for washing the nasal cavities, which exits from thedevice through a concentrator 29 and a delivery member 30 definedrespectively by the separator 15 and by the summit adapter 16.

It should be underlined that between the base cap 13 and the main body12 a seal 34 can be provided so as to be able to wash the device wherenecessary, without problems for the internal components and theelectronic circuit. Furthermore, the supporting element can also be aspace 33 in which to place accessories or anything else needed by thedevice.

In the variation shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the disposition and combinationof the other components still holding, besides designed with the samereference numbers used in the previous figures, in the nasal washingdevice the main body 112 and the tank for liquids instead of being madeup of separate elements and then joined together are advantageously awhole integral element.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described indetail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention,it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwisewithout departing from such principles.

1. A device for washing nasal cavities by a nebulized treatment liquid,the device comprising: a main body; a tank of liquids above the mainbody and including at least one nebulization chamber containing awashing liquid; a means for drawing and nebulizing the treatment liquidfrom said nebulization chamber and supplying the nebulized liquidtowards the nasal cavities with a flow of air under pressure generatedby a compressor group, said compressor group being controlled by apiloting electronic circuit powered by an electric battery systemconnectable to a recharger unit, said main body having a cavity closedby a sealing base cap and said compressor group, said pilotingelectronic circuit and said electric battery system are on board asingle support housed and retained in a cavity of said main body.
 2. Adevice according to claim 1, wherein one portion of the compressor groupis in communication with an outside environment via an intake passageand another portion of said compressor group is in communication withsaid means of collecting and nebulizing the treatment liquid through adelivery nozzle formed in said support.
 3. A device according to claim1, wherein said compressor group comprises a pump with an electriccontrol motor and said piloting electronic circuit is connected to saidelectric battery system through a switch.
 4. A device according to claim1, wherein said electric battery system comprises batteries, saidbatteries being rechargeable and said batteries being connected to arecharger unit connected in turn to an electric feeder by means of aconnection system which is located and contained in an elementsupporting the device.
 5. A device according to claim 4, wherein therecharger unit is an electromagnetic induction type recharger unit.
 6. Adevice according to claim 4, wherein the intake passage of the air bythe compressor group pump is associated or not associated with an intakevalve.
 7. A device according to claim 6, wherein the intake valve of thepump is placed in said base cap in association with a protection cover.8. A device according to claim 4, wherein the supporting element has atleast one space for repositioning elements or accessories.
 9. A deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein the main body and the tank for liquids aremade up of independent elements, superimposed and joined to each other.10. A device according to claim 1, wherein the main body and the tankfor liquids form an integral whole.
 11. A device according to claim 2,wherein said compressor group comprises a pump with an electric controlmotor and said piloting electronic circuit is connected to said electricbattery system through a switch.
 12. A device according to claim 5,wherein the supporting element has at least one space for repositioningelements or accessories.
 13. A device according to claim 2, wherein themain body and the tank for liquids are made up of independent elements,superimposed and joined to each other.
 14. A device according to claim2, wherein the main body and the tank for liquids form an integralwhole.